Construction sites are naturally dangerous. Safety regulations are in place for a reason, but time and again, we hear of accidents that could have been prevented, if only these guidelines were more closely followed. Last month, a construction worker in Falls Church was working in a trench, replacing a water line, when the trench collapsed,...
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Pharmaceutical Company Settles Allegations Involving Improper Financial Incentives for $124 Million
Cincinnati-based Omnicare Inc. will pay $124 million in fines to settle allegations the nursing home pharmacy giant made false billings to federal health programs and offered improper discounts to skilled-nursing facilities. Omnicare allegedly offered contracts to supply prescription medication and other pharmaceuticals to Medicare and Medicaid aligned skilled-nursing facilities well below cost. This would in turn induce...
Read MoreWoman Dies after Being Hit by Vehicle at D.C. Intersection
Yet another pedestrian has been killed in Washington D.C., this time a 58-year-old woman was hit by a commuter bus on K Street. She had just left work for the day and was running to catch her commuter bus, when she tripped and fell, and was struck by another bus. She was rushed to a...
Read MoreParalyzed Patients Walk Again with Help from ‘Bionic’ Suit
A 26-year-old man was in an ATV accident two years ago that left him with a severed spinal cord. Surgeons assumed he would never walk again. A special ‘bionic’ suit, however, is changing the game; he is now able to push his hips and legs forward using a motorized body suit called “ReWalk.” The system...
Read MoreDistracted Driving Often Leads to Crashes
More than 3,000 people died in distraction-related crashes in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. “Distraction” is a broad term, used to mean any number of activities that might happen in a car: eating a hamburger, chatting with passengers, touching up lipstick, reading a navigation...
Read MoreRising Truck Accident Fatalities Lead to New Scrutiny
According to a report in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, the Walmart truck that flipped Tracy Morgan’s limo recently was ultramodern in its technology. The high-tech cab was fitted with sophisticated collision-avoidance systems, forward-looking radar and interactive cruise control, plus an on-board computer, blind spot sensors and electronic controls limiting its speed to 65 mph. Most...
Read MoreCrash Near Bay Bridge Injures Officer, Snarls Traffic All Day Long
A police officer was seriously injured in a Baltimore crash that closed down the Bay Bridge, causing a traffic jam that stretched back 16 miles. The highway patrolman was monitoring lunch hour traffic from his vehicle, parked in the emergency-vehicles-only strip between the eastbound and westbound sides of the freeway. A driver veered out of...
Read MoreMy Car Was the Subject of a Safety Recall. What Should I Do?
In a further development to a story we discussed recently, General Motors added over half a million Camaros to its list of recalled vehicles a few days ago. This brings the total number of GM recalls this year up to 38. The recall is for the remote key and...
Read MoreDo Smart Pumps Really Work?
Smart pump technology has demonstrably reduced mistakes in the management of intravenous drug delivery, but software malfunctions and other frightening complications continue to occur. The FDA reported last month that CareFusion's Alaris Pump 8100 was recalled due to a software failure. Since 2009, CareFusion has been forced to recall this same product three different times.
Read MoreHead Injuries Rise in Cities with Bike Share Programs but No Helmets
The Washington Post recently shared a study comparing data for bicyclists in five cities. Researchers revealed a 7.8 percent increase in head injuries after bike share programs were initiated in those cities, compared to five cities with no such programs, which actually showed head injuries declining by 2.3...
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